(NBA D-League: Byron Mullens, Ivan Harris, & Kosta Koufos)The news of a young prospect getting sent down to the NBA Development League usually elicits a hailstorm of opinions, most of which trend in the negative direction. Yet, for us it's cool because it means these guys will get some extended run in real games. After all, the actual development of the player should never get lost in any outside talk. Just how much 2nd year pro Kosta Koufos has improved is a mystery to everyone outside of the Utah Jazz franchise. The 21 year old center/forward has not played this season, and it is not hard to see why when you consider Memet Okur, a vet who possesses Koufos' skillset, a former all star in Boozer, & a beast of a PF in Paul Milsap. Add that with a strict coach & there is not much room in that front line rotation.
Koufos was first assigned to the D-League in late January. But he only played one game before being called back up by the Jazz for depth reasons. He actually played five minutes in the game vs the Kings on the day he was called up (Jan. 29). However, that just turned out to be a cruel tease of sorts because he would not even see that many total minutes for the entire next month.(grand total of 4 mins in the whole month of Feb. --yikes!) Who knows why the Jazz did not assign Kosta back to the D-League earlier, but for the young man there has to be a point where the player simply wants to play extends more than being with the team in the big leagues (and never playing). Koufos has missed a lot of game time this season, we would think now it's just about playing and improving his game.
We can not stress enough just how young he still is at age 21. It is sometimes tough for young players to find that consistency, and or definitive role on a good team. There are numerous cases, Shannon Brown with the Cavaliers immediately comes to mind. Dude looked lost..mainly because he barely got in games, and when he did he was thinking too much which made him a step slow. You can & will definitely improve practicing with NBA teams, but next to no game minutes will only get you so far.
-Koufos has scored just 6 points off 3 fgs from December to March. Here is one of the field goals. A left handed hook shot over fellow 2007 Mickie Ds All-American, Michael Beasley of the Miami Heat.
Kosta Koufos Layup Short
Uploaded by BuckeyeBallersTV. - BuckeyeBallersTV, blowing up on Dailymotion!
-Ivan Harris & the Erie Bayhawks have had a disappointing second season. Not only did they enter this season without some key playes to last year's playoff team, it seems like they are swapping players every couple of weeks. Erie will not play in the playoffs this season, but they are currently playing quality basketball to the tune of a two game winning streak. Springfield's Ivan Harris scored 21 points in Erie's last victory. The Bayhawks will look to continue their success vs Albuquerque at 9m Friday night. (All D-League games can be watched live on futurecast)
-Also Saturday's Tulsa (rookie center Byron Mullens) vs Rio Grande game will be broadcasted on tape delay at 11:00pm on the national cable network 'Versus'.
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